Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh 

Carmen Thomson

four stars

THE End Of Eddy, directed by Stewart Laing and adapted by Pamela Carter, is based on the book of the same name and is set in the small French town of Hallencourt. Here, young Eddy grows up around stereotypes around masculinity that are widely accepted. Men must be strong, violent and would frequently go drinking. Eddy denies he is gay because of these stereotypes.

The actors Alex Austin and Kwaku Mills play both Eddie and other characters in the play. They also have the job of telling the story to the audience and at all times it was clear which actor was playing which character.

 Overall the play felt at times both comedic and light hearted, and intense and dramatic. The play itself could have been very dark throughout, however the moments of comedy allow room to breath from the more intense moments. The more dramatic parts were done well as they strongly suit the idea of toxic masculinity that is a large topic at this time.

The play incorporates recordings of the actors displayed on TV screens playing other characters in the performance. The actors interact with the characters on the screens which I first thought was a comedic element, but, it is also used effectively with the more dramatic scenes. The actors would be acting alongside the videos of the characters which was both accurately done and very unique as not many other shows have had this same idea.

Carmen Thomson is a pupil at Leith Academy and this review was submitted as part of The Herald Young Critics Project with the Edinburgh International Festival, as were those below.

Festival Theatre

The End Of Eddie

The Studio, Edinburgh

Jessica Dodds

five stars

THE End Of Eddie is a docu-drama based on the book En finir avec Eddy Bellegueulle by Édouard Louis and tells the story of Édouard and how he grew up in a small village in France as a homosexual male. Both actors, Alex Austin and Kwaku Mills performed as Eddy as they inform the audience about the struggle Eddy had growing up with his identity.

The actors used four screens to help tell the story. As one actor was narrating, the screens would interact with the story in many different ways. The phrase “Today, I’m going to be a man” and other phrases related to being a ‘real man’ were often highlighted throughout to put emphasis on Eddy’s desire as a young boy to be a real man as that was what was expected in the village. The actors use of the screens in moments like these is symbolic of Eddy’s internal battle with himself.

The actors also played other roles such as the mother, father and older brother, this was also done through the screens. The actors would interact with the screens while playing Eddie as if they were talking to real people. The screens came on at the exact time they should and other production areas such as light and sound were on cue which made the performance more impactful at certain moments, either making the audience laugh or think. A worthy performance of five stars.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Eliott Berthin

four stars

AS I walked in to the theatre I immediately noticed that the set was unlike any I’ve seen before, it was 4 TVs on stands placed side by side with a small bus shelter in the background with a bin with the 2 actors sitting down. The play focused on the character Eddy bellegueule and his upbringing with his family and him being different in a town that is focused on masculinity and being “hard”. Eddy himself knows that he is gay and more feminine than all the other boys in the village, his family are disappointed in this as it brings their status down. Throughout the play we learn more about his family and how they do not have enough money to support themselves, and his school life where we learn that he gets bullied for 2 years straight and is a joke among other students.

The characters in this play were all represented by the 2 male actors on stage, however others were shown on the TVs but still played by the same 2 men. There was a lot of light changes to help show what location the character was in, for example when they were in a nightclub the lights were dimmed down and turned purple. The sound in this play was pretty basic with a couple songs being played as background music except for a scene near the end where we see the actors singing along to Celine Dion.

Overall I enjoyed the play as I thought the issues it dealt with are very real in this day and age and the way that it was portrayed and shown to us was very clever as it kept me gripped throughout. I would recommend this show to anyone interested.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Kim Stronach

five stars

THE End of Eddy is a true story which was originally a book about Édouard Louis’s coming out story. Alex Austin and Kwaku Mills are playing Eddy, the family member and the bully’s. They also step out of character to further explain to the audience his experience. This shows them using a very Brecht approach. As well as being with us in person they also share his story by playing characters which are presented in video form.

I thought this play was very successful in showing Eddy’s struggles and his journey with coming out. It was really smart with how they used the screens to act as the other characters and how they came out of character but it was also easy to understand and to follow along with which made it more enjoyable.

Both Alex and Kwaku done a amazing job telling the story but also acting it out as all these different characters. I could tell who they where and when which also made it more easy to follow along with. One key moment that stood out to me was when Vincent hit his father after his father defended Eddy. Alex and Kwaku made it very hard hitting which made me feel Eddy’s pain and struggles. Another key moment which stood out to me was when they keep repeating into the mirror, which was the screen, “today I’m going to be a man”. I liked how they used the screens to act as mirrors and how Alex and Kwaku spoke to it so it looked like he was actually staring into a mirror.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Stephen McLean

four stars

END of Eddy written by Edouard Louis tells us about his rough childhood living in a small village called Helencourt where he was abused and discriminated by local bullies.

The play starts off with an introduction where we learn about Eddy family, his Mum and Dad his two brothers Vincent and Rudy. The scenes starts with Eddy in school as he is wondering down the corridor where he is approached by two boys who call him homophobic names and spits on him.

During the play there was some moments that showed the struggles Eddy went through as he was constantly abused by the same bullies and problems within his family with who his father wanted Eddy to be more like a man.

There was some bits in the end of Eddy that connected with the audience that made them laugh there was some scenes that showed where Eddy was trying to come to terms with his sexuality whether or not he was sexually attracted to men.

There was also some bits that made the audience understood that the place where Eddy grew up was a very rough area that is against people being gay and why it’s hard for Eddy is that he was accused of being gay for some things. Eddy couldn’t open it up to anyone as they would disown them because of his sexuality.

Looking back on this play I would give this play four stars as it had everything that helped discuss about Eddy life and why he had to go through this phase in his childhood where he was both physically and verbally abused by most people but the ending showed a new begging for Eddy as he was no longer this kid going through a tough moment in his childhood and that he can finally be a man.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Eilidh West

four stars

THE End of Eddy was a gripping and unique performance based around the young life of Édouard Louis, and the struggles of both growing up in poverty and learning to accept sexuality. From the very start the audience were involved as the actors broke the fourth wall, addressing the audience as they told the story. The actors had a way of telling the story which meant that the audience were gripped the whole time.

The use of technology was particularly clever, as the two characters were multi-rolling throughout, and the pre-recordings of the different characters helped the story flow. Both actors displayed great skill as they jumped from one character to the other, and yet managing to show a clear difference between the characteristics. The subtle use of movement and sound also helped add to the story and created more dimension to the performance.

There were several points in which the actors would break character and act as a narrator, it was clear that the actors were there to tell a story rather than fully embody the characters which created a truly unique theatre experience, which as an audience member you felt uncomfortable, or empathetic, or even joyful.

The play is quite nicely brought to an end as the actors read excerpts from the book itself, and then in unison read a final quote. This made for a nice yet simple ending that was very effective. Overall the play was captivating and told the heart breaking story with great style.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio,Edinburgh

Amy Donald

four Stars

THE End of Eddy was a really gripping and creative performance which conveyed themes such as family, sexuality and poverty. As an audience member, I felt as though the performance was brilliant as it portrayed a serious message about life, yet also created a light hearted atmosphere.

One aspect of the performance that particularly stood out to me was the unique use of the televisions to help tell the interesting story of Eddy’s childhood. I felt this was an extremely creative use of set  which contributed greatly to conveying the storyline.

There were only two actors who were wearing the exact same costume. This had a powerful impact on me as an audience member as it was such a powerful touch to the performance as the conveyed every character. Both actors played all characters and this helped to show us as the audience their amazing talent as I imagine it took a lot of rehearsals to perfect what they did.

Overall, I thought that End of Eddy was an outstanding performance. It conveyed a thrilling story line with many twists and really helped me as an audience member feel exactly how Eddy was feeling through the actors use of voice and movement. I would definitely recommend going to see this performance as I left the studio after feeling my eyes were now wide open to his life after I found out it was a true story.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Stan Ross

four stars

Unique,quirky,gripping. if I had to describe end of Eddie in 3 words that’s what I would say. a fantastic performance all round. 2 young energetic actors Alex Austin and Kwaku Mills tell the story of a young French man Eddy Bellegueule’s journey to becoming Édouard Louis in an unconventional but brilliant manor. We here of Eddie’s ups downs and struggles with sexuality through the use of 4 screens and multi rolling from Mills and Austin.

It focuses on Eddy’s life from ages 10-15. We here all about his problems with 2 bullies at school , his own family and the whole town he lives in being homophobic towards him. Some of the graphic descriptions given of what Eddie went through made you squirm in your seat but i guess that’s all part of the brilliance the way the story is portrayed by the actors can really make you feel like you are there in the moment and grip you to the story.

The use of the 4 screens is not only brilliantly clever and unique it is also symbolic of the fact that there was 4 TVs in Eddies house that were constantly on and would just make the whole family oblivious to each other. Overall End of Eddie was a very different performance to anything I’ve seen before and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio

Cara Moloney Leith Academy

5 stars

Walking into the Festival Theatre Studio, I already had large expectations of how impressive this play would be following the popularity of the published book, walking out of the theatre, I easily could say it  completely met expectations, I could even say it overcame them and impressed me further .The show took such a interesting approach to the storyline and with the use of narration, multi casting and prerecorded videos on screens, I found this extremely effective and helped produce an exciting sense of story telling. When we first walked in the actors where on stage already and the windows weren’t covered , creating a bright and welcoming atmosphere. I felt this continued throughout the play as they talked to the audience directly and  even took a selfie with us, you really felt often , like a part of the show. The End of Eddie produced some beautiful yet heartbreaking moments , however in other scenes would have the audience in fits of laughter , this was the perfect balance and really created the perfect performance.. The whole show only had two actors in it and they both did absolutely amazing, they had a lot of pressure on them to be able to not only amuse an audience with only them acting , but also be multiple characters throughout, however they made it seem easy and preformed fantastically. Overall I think The End of Eddie was incredible to watch and would absolutely recommend it.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Beth Patterson

THE End Of Eddy is an autobiography written by Édouard Louis, but in this case it is an adaptation, an adaptation by Pamela Carter. The play its self was directed by Stewart Laing. The play tells the autobiography as a story one of which that follows the life of ‘Eddy’, later on to be Édouard. The play starts and stays with the same set: four tv screens positioned across the front of the stage hoisted up on poles that adjust the height of the screens, a concrete bus shelter and a bin centre back stage.

Hallencourt is the French town in which Eddy grew up, isolated from any other major town, sitting in the middle of nowhere, Eddy had only the thirteen thousand residents that hated anything out of the ordinary as he grew up. Hallencourt as a town experienced poverty as it was described to be on the other end of an industrial boom. Poverty was only one of the things Eddy experienced growing up in Hallencourt. There was also the shame that came with being gay in a town that despised it and the violence that came with the classic gender roles, the manly man that’s the breadwinner and the stay at home mum. And lastly pride, the pride that comes hand in hand with the violence.

Throughout the story Eddy is constantly trying to fit in, fighting with himself over something he can’t change but he tries anyway and of course this lands him in all sorts of trouble- having to deal with bullies, school rumours, his unsupportive family and the confusion of why he was the way he was.

There are several things that I particularly appreciate about this performance one of which is the smaller details, for example the journey route that is written across the bus shelter, it is easy to spot for it is red against yellow. But the reason I like it is because it follows the story of his life: Hallencourt where he grew up, vers Abbeville where he went to school and vers Amiens where he went to university.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Joanna Paterson

ALEX Austin and Kwaku Mills performed in this brilliant adaptation of Édouard Louis' autobiography, by Pamela Carter and directed by Stewart Laing. The story followed a boy named Eddy and his childhood, in the town of, Hallencourt. The town was described as being poverty ridden and post industrial, with one main road leading to the only bus stop. Strictly equipped gender roles, is one of the driving forces in this wheel of misery for the thirteen thousand residents, its the idea that men are very masculine and work in manual labour at the old brass factory while, women stay at home and raise the children. He was bullied in school and didn't find comfort or support at home, despite this he found the classroom was one of his favourite places due to the fact the teachers taught acceptance. He joined the drama club, and after a solo performance he was approached by his principal and offered a place at an performance arts school, of which from where he would be able to attend university. He took the opportunity and left his home.

What stood out about this performance was its use of production areas such as media and lights. There were four TVs positioned centre front stage, and they portrayed important information such as Eddy's family members and mirror effects with the actors. What I liked most about this performance was the inspiration of the practitioner, Brecht, as the actor's came out of character and spoke to that audience. I thought it was a nice touch as it meant the audience were more included in the thoughts and feelings behind the piece. I would give this performance a 5 star review as I found it intriguing, entertaining and inclusive.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Reiss Trench

THE END of Eddy is about the writer’s child hood and who he grow up in poverty and that he was bullied through primary school and through to college he is bullied because he is gay. He lives in a time we’re in The world the looked at gays as being different and that it should happen but this was not the case with eddy he deals with the bullying and all the name calling even from his own family.

Eddie lives with his mom and dad and two twin siblings and his half brother they are a family living in poverty. The play starts with the actors talking about the writer and how he wrote the book and how he was only 22 when he published it and the talk about the character of eddy and how old. After this they start acting out eddys life by starting in his school. I one of the school corridors where he is confronted by to bulled as he describes one being tall and ginger and the other short and dum we see these bullies through the play has they harass him for being different and when it comes to it the start to call him a fag. Eddy though never fights back he just smiles and takes it because he doesn’t want to fight back.

The play goes on going through life and comes to parts like how he had intercourse with his cousin and he started getting more and more bulled for it. But the play comes to a good end with eddy finishing school and going on to college and it comes to an end with someone walking up to him in a corridor like in school an someone saying to him “eddy looking as gay as ever and him replying yes I do “ the end of eddy was a good play altogether I would give it a 4 start raining it has good depth to his story and it’s a really heart-breaking one.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Jenny Duncan

four stars

THE End of Eddy tells the true and heartbreaking story of the early years of Édouard Louis, a little boy from a small town in France called Hallencourt. The emotional story talks about Eddy’s struggle to fit in as everyone suspects him of being gay, being from a small town that would make him different from the rest. The drama begins with the two amazing actors directly speaking to the audience, setting the scene.

‘Wanna be straight with you” That line stuck with me as the play revolves around Eddy being different because he is gay so that line coming from one of the actors who played Eddy showed him trying to hide he true sexuality. The actors played all the characters, sometimes on stage sometimes on four flat screen TV's that they often interacted with.

The story talked about his strong relationship with his mum as she was quite the chatterbox and talks about his conflict and distance with his dad as he wasn’t the conversationalist and often spent an evening in front of the telly as a “family bonding experience”.

This drama goes on the journey of sexuality and self-discovery as an emotional rollercoaster that shows a young man's strength and deep desire can overcome any hate that people and bullies have.  I found this performance gripping and emotionally challenging, I would highly recommend.

Festival Theatre

The End of Eddy

The Studio, Edinburgh

Ewan Burns

four stars

THE End of Eddy took its audience through a technological journey of violence, shame, poverty and pride and brought us all through the other side. The original autobiographical novel has been translated into simulating, stirring, Brechtian theatre and made its audience abstractly and critically think about the structure of social class and possibly their own ideals of toxic masculinity.

From entering the room the atmosphere was intriguing and vibrant from the start all the way through the beautiful use of light, communication and storytelling until the end. In the studio festival theatre space the set was kept simplistic and minimalistic only including, in the upstage a tarnished, messy looking bus shelter giving us the insight into the isolated, small minded, home of Eddy Belleguelle. Then further down stage four screens representing the four televisions that were constantly running in his childhood home.

Through the use of these wired, innovative and meticulously timed screens it gave both a clever and comical effect to the performance and an intriguing one which kept us gripped through the emotional ups and downs presented in Eddys life. From the beginning we were constantly kept on track with seamlessly, smooth narration and with skilled multi rolling from the actors Alex Austin and Kwaku Mills live upon stage and upon the pre-planned visual perfections projected on to our eyes. I left the theatre uplifted and took away new ideals of my own masculinity and what that means to me and no one else.